Generally when screens are formed on a photographic paper by a thermal transfer printing system the screens formed each having an image on a photographic paper, a yellow colorant (Y), a magenta colorant (M), and a cyan colorant (C) are sequentially transferred onto a photographic paper by sublimation, so as to form a screen having an image. As shown in FIG. 9, the screen 56 is formed larger than an individual photographic paper 54, which will be manufactured thereafter by cutting the a photographic paper 52. The screen 56 is provided with a margin cut portion 53 between the screen 56 and a forward screen 56 adjacent thereto, and another margin cut portion 53 between the screen 56 and a rearward screen 56 adjacent thereto. Then, a screen protective layer 55 having the same dimensions as those of the screen 56 is formed on the screen 56, and the photographic paper 52 is cut at a position on which a predetermined margin is left from a front edge 56b of the screen 56 formed on the photographic paper 52. Then, the photographic paper 52 is cut at a position on which a predetermined margin is left from a rear edge 56a of the screen 56. Thus, the individual photographic paper 54 is manufactured (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Thereafter, the margin cut portions 53, which are located between the screen 56 and the forward screen 56 adjacent thereto, and between the screen 56 and rearward screen 56 adjacent thereto, are cut down.
[Patent Document 1] P Patent Publication No. 3688433
When the individual photographic papers 54 are sequentially manufactured by such a thermal transfer printing system, a number of margin cut portions 53 are cut down and thrown out. Thus, there is a problem in that a great amount of waste matter is generated. In addition, when a number of margin cut portions 53 are cut down, there is a possibility that some of the cut-down margin cut portions 53 might clog up a mechanism part or the like of the thermal transfer printing system so that an operation of the thermal transfer printing system might be stopped.
Further, the front side and the rear side of each screen 56 are cut by a cutter, i.e., the cutter cuts the photographic paper 52 twice for each screen 56. Thus, there is another problem in that the cutter is likely to worn away relatively in a short period of time.
In order to solve these problems, there has been known a method for forming screens without providing a margin between the adjacent screens. When screens are formed on a photographic paper by this method, as shown in FIG. 10, formed on a photographic paper 62 at first is a screen 66 having the same dimensions as those of an individual photographic paper 64 that will be obtained thereafter by cutting the photographic paper 62. Then, a screen protective layer 65 is formed on the screen 66 with a predetermined margin left from a rear edge 66a of the screen 66. After that, the photographic paper 62 is cut at the rear edge 66a of the screen 66, so that an individual photographic paper 64 is manufactured. In consideration of a case in which a cut position of the photographic paper 62 is shifted from the rear edge 66a of the screen 66, the screen protective layer 66 is formed with a predetermined margin left from the rear edge 66a of the screen 66.